On line on December 19th, 20th and 21st, an experiment from SIR Daily News in English. The service will officially start on January 9th 2006
"The report published by Eurobarometro gives a picture of the EU at the end of a troubled year. Now, the EU has to keep its promises and has to fight to regain the hearts and souls of its citizens. Such a task has never been so important". Margot Wallström, Deputy President of the Commission, responsible for institutional relations and communication strategies, comments the figures that were published yesterday by Eurobarometro (which interviewed 29,430 people between October and November) about the perception that the citizens have of European integration, the pros and cons of belonging to a "common house", the need to enforce a Constitution. The results of the EU survey company "come at the end of a very difficult year", states the Swedish commissioner as she points out the failure of the French and Dutch referenda and the "tug of war" about the long-term budget. "The countries’ self-interests come up too often argues Wallström and we see a lack of vision and solidarity. On the contrary, I still believe that people want ‘more Europe’, inspired leaders and good policies". The commissioner acknowledges that "Euro-scepticism" is growing; then she thinks a positive factor, that should be kept into account by the institutions, is the fact "public opinion as a whole is still in favour of Europe and the majority of its population agrees that the building of the Eu should go on".
